Mont Asall-id game

Mont Asall is an absolutely wonderful game! It has excellent music, graphics, gameplay, and is overall a very pretty game. I wish I could stop at the good things, but it has its downs as well... Anyway, Mont Asall was submitted to the Seven Day Rogue-like contest. My review, as always have spoilers, so this is an obligatory SPOILER WARNING. Do not read this review if you don't want the story ruined for you, little story as there is. Also, this review is formatted. Hope that doesn't bug you too much. Now with that out of the way, let's take a chainsaw to this game's head, shall we? Er, actually, no. Let's just review it, alright?

~Gameplay~Battles: Shiny. It's so shiny. In other words: I love it! In Mont Asall there's a tactical battle system that's slightly reminiscent of one of Ocean's earlier games, Island Sky. You get the following options: "Item", "Pass", "Spell", and "View". You attack by selecting an enemy in your range while the menu is down. Pass proceeds to the next turn, View gives you information about your enemies. As nit-picky as this may sound, there's an unsightly empty space underneath your options in the menu. Perhaps you could dispose of it? Someone else complained about having to use pass to proceed, but I personally like battles with the pass option since you can end your turn whenever you want rather than having to do a certain amount of things before you turn ends. A thing about weapons: I love how in this game you can choose your favorite weapon and excel in most every battle with it. Though, if you're doomed to certain weapons because of the randomization, you can still make it work with a hired asassin (which Ocean seems to love)and some careful maneuvering. Heck, with some strategies you don't even have to take damage(which is awesome). Though, with that, I'm brought to a flaw. In the final battle there is a glitch that makes it so that the main antagonist will no longer move. Of course, you could completely avoid doing this, but it is fairly simple to do. Ocean is already working on this though, so no worries. I'd also suggest giving more variety to the number of different assasins you could recruit. Basically, now you either recruit the one available or you go without. Not that I want 3 people in battle, I just want a little more choice as to who I bring. Also, if you select a spell or item that you don't have, you have to wait a little while for the text to go away. Perhaps you should change this?

I love this so much, it's so balanced, and yet hard if you're not thinking about the battle the right way. Pistols all the way. ~Pew~Pew!
5\5

Exploraton: Exploration is literally one of Mont Asall's mechanics. As you move around the map there's more of it revealed for you to explore. You start with all of the map dark. And, because I'm OCD I like to explore every little bit of map to get every fleck of black off my screen. Though, at first, I was thinking it would be annoying to have to do this in a town. Obviously, Ocean had the foresight to not do that. Another thing about exploring: Like most other RPGs, Mont Asall rewards you with treasure if you explore its nooks and crannies. And its magical horse staues that ask you if you're a virgin. Which is awesome, by the way. And lastly, since all of the maps are beatifully mapped and sprited, you could even want to explore just to take in the ambience. Unless of course, there's a monster in your way and you're running low on health. (Which happens alot.)

Pretty good all-in-all.
4.5\5

~Graphics\Mapping~Ocean is a very good artist, and it definitely shows. The character creation screen doesn't completely butcher the character's appearance either, so that's a plus. Everything looks unique, beautiful, and vibrant like most of Ocean's games(which I've always liked). A rather obvious "complaint" about the characters is they slide everywhere, which I actually didn't mind. It was like all of my characters and NPCs were little pieces from a chess board which went well with the battle system. Of course, others aren't going to like this too terribly much, but I would keep it the way it is. Oh, and the fact that the weapon that you have equipped shows up on your sprite is really cool. Same for armor which allowed me to make my own awkward or extremely cool guy (or girl!). Even alot of the monsters looked unique!

It looks extremely nice--as one would expect!
5\5

Not the best guard in the world. But he'll do. (This made me laugh)

~Music\Sounds~

This game had a good soundtrack and sounds that were all fitting. Apparently, they're someone named Vicman's creations. My personal favorite song was "Preludius" since it's so happy. Though, I hated "fright" from the depths of my bowels. I can't remember where it played, but I do remember it was driving me crazy with the waves. Which is odd since I usually like the sound of waves. I suppose I'd get rid of it? Others may like it though, so you may want get a second opinion on that.

On the whole, the game's soundtrack is really good.
4\5

~Judge Hipster presiding~

~Plot\Story~Like most Ocean games, Mont Asall's story is fairly simplistic. But, still enough of a story that you can make a solid game and likable characters. So, a person is put on trial for murdering Sir Edmund. You can either be found guilty or innocent, but the result is the same--you have to find the real killer with the help of a lady named Priestess Adele. Of course, she doesn't actually join your party (which saddens me) but the fact that there are two able-bodied people looking for the real killer is quite the concept! I just like how the hero isn't the only competent person in the game. After first getting to Mont Asall, Adele tells you to go beat the snot out of a man named Gabriel so that you can get information about Priest Fernand. Adele goes to the temple to "asess" things.

To avoid ruining who the real killer of Sir Edmund is, I'll not go any farther. Anyway, you get doses of story before and after each dungeon which are randomly picked (adding to the replayability).
I really like the story, and when I saw there was a trial in the beginning of the game I was real excited for what may ensue. (Ace attorney forever!)
4\5

~Prelude~An enjoyable game all-in-all. Its score was brought down by various things included in the review, especially that horrid song. *SHUDDERS*
Also, I like how the main character goes through the trial with barely any clothes on--it's really funny. And, the title of my review is funny even if it IS stupid.
4.5\5

Posts

I'd also suggest giving more variety to the number of different assains you could recruit. Basically, now you either recruit the one available or you go without.

Really good idea actually! I didn't think of it because I was pressed for time but yeah that would be nice to have, so you have some choice even if it's still randomized.

I can't remember where it played, but I do remember it was driving me crazy with the waves. Which is odd since I usually like the sound of waves

This was played in the Castle Ruins. I thought the waves were odd too but I didn't fix it... I should have. I guess I didn't find it a big deal. I can do that though. The songs aren't mine though, they are by Vicman. I'm not going to take credit for something I didn't (or couldn't have, given the timeframe) do.

Yeah I'll look over any of the other suggestions, and glad you enjoyed playing it! Was tempted to add more maps and rebalance things, I'll probably do that when I am more free, perhaps next month or so.